Posted on: Jul 30, 2012 | 14,194 reads

Toyota and Subaru Preview GT-86/BRZ Racecars

Toyota takes its GT-86 in classic livery to Britcar 24 while Subaru prepares the BRZ for rally duty.

What good is a new sportscar if you can't take it racing? That seems to be exactly what Toyota and Subaru are thinking. Both companies have a strong history in motorsports, and neither is keen to miss a chance to take its jointly-developed GT-86/FR-S/BRZ to the track and beyond. Toyota has already campaigned a racing version of the GT-86 at the Nurburgring 24, where it was fielded by the company's in-house Gazoo Racing team. This new racing model, however, is reviving the name and livery of the Toyota Team GB.

Toyota and Subaru Preview GT-86/BRZ Racecars

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The outfit dominated the British Touring Car Championship in the late 1980s with the Corolla AE86 - a rear-drive hatchback that served as the inspiration for the new GT-86. The new car will be fielded in the Britcar 24-hour race at Silverstone by GPRM, the team that fields the Avensis in the BTCC, and wear the iconic red-striped white livery of the original. The Subaru BRZ "Zero Car" pictured here, however, takes a different approach. Following the GT300 version fielded in the Japan's own Super GT series, this example is being prepared by Subaru as a customer rally car for privateer teams to buy and race independently.

Subaru has yet to release official specifications for the rally-spec BRZ, but from the picture we can see it has been equipped with a set of white alloys, front splitter and small rear wing. Subaru is expected to unveil the Zero Car (racing-speak for "see what we can do") at the next stage of the Japanese Rally Championship.